Hela Lamine   
 Compote *( no added sugar )   —   2007
Student in Paris

« I had a fever. I couldn't eat raw fruit. I called my mother. »

Media : Artist Book
Themes :   Body , Food

Paris, 2007. My first year in France. What struck me was the excess of packaging everywhere, the detailed labelling of products, the exaggerated emphasis placed on the smallest details of everyday life. And the constant bombardment of the message: “eat five fruits and vegetables a day” — plastered across the city, right alongside advertisements for ultra-processed foods. A way of easing your guilt about junk food by reminding you to eat your vegetables. Paris, the city of fashion, a permanent parade of slim, healthy-looking bodies.

I catch gastroenteritis. I have a fever. I can’t eat raw fruit. I call my mother to ask for her compote recipe.

This is where this artist’s book was born. The recipe is explained down to the tiniest detail, with an abundance of information that serves no real purpose. The pear is examined up close and drawn from every possible angle. The apple is sent back to its Garden of Eden.

This small experimental cookbook/sketchbook project later became the starting point for my entire body of work around and with food.



Medium / date:
Artist’s book — Paris, 2007.

→ See also : Come to the Table! — Remnants in Orbit